# Castro Dies at 78.......End to Embargo is Eminent!!



## singlguy9 (Dec 9, 2004)

*****



 


Castro Dies at 78.......End to Embargo is Eminent!! 



Gee that would be a big story, wouldn't it!!!!













Happy April Fools!!!!!

 

:z


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## (909) (Jul 27, 2004)

Thats F'd up!

You got me though!


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## croatan (Mar 23, 2005)

I was already searching the drudge report looking for the headline before I clicked back to read the message. Pretty good.


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## Jsabbi01 (Feb 24, 2005)

Got me!


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## Wu9lf (Mar 23, 2005)

I knew it was an April fools joke, but you had me at first glance. Ah that would be so nice.


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## Roger Miller" (Apr 15, 2004)

Cute, sort of.

Implicit in your joke is that if Fidel dies the embargo will end. Not a chance. Fidel is not the sole problem, instutionalized control and consolidation of power by the Communist Party (CP) is the problem. I am not sure what makes you think that will go away if Fidel dies, but i believe it is ill informed.

The constitution of Cuba is an incredible document of state sanctioned repression, designed to perpetuate the revolution and silence any dissent. Even where the constitution allows certain levels of participation it is routinely ignored or circumvented. Do you have any idea how repressive this government is? Do you not think Raul and his cronies will pick up right where Fidel leaves off?

The CP is the only legal political entity, and President Castro personally chooses the membership of the Politburo, the select group that heads the CP. There are no contested elections for the 609 member National Assembly of People's Power (ANPP), which meets twice a year for several days to rubber stamp decisions and policies previously decided by the governing Council of State.

The Ministry of Interior is the principal instrument of state security and control. Officers of the Revolutionary Armed Forces, which are led by Fidel Castro's brother, General Raul Castro, have occupied the majority of key positions in the Ministry of Interior during the past 15 years. In addition to the routine law enforcement functions of regulating migration and controlling the Border Guard and the regular police forces, the Interior Ministry's Department of State Security investigated and suppressed political opposition and dissent. It maintained a pervasive system of surveillance through undercover agents, informers, rapid response brigades (RRBs), and neighborhood based Committees for the Defense of the Revolution (CDRs). The Government traditionally has used the CDRs to mobilize citizens against dissenters, impose ideological conformity, and root out "counterrevolutionary" behavior. RRBs consisted of workers from a particular brigade such as construction or factory workers organized by the CP to react forcefully to any situation of social unrest. The Government on occasion used RRBs instead of the police or military during such situations. Members of the security forces committed numerous, serious human rights abuses.

I could go on but will leave it to you to read the State Department's annual assessment of human rights around the world. Especially Cuba, here:
http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/hrrpt/2004/41756.htm

This may be a bit over the top for a response to a joke. But it gave me an opportunity to vent a real irritation i have. It seems sometimes in our love of cigars and the mystique of the Cuban cigar we either forget, and at worst, romanticize Cuba. The place is a pit of human rights abuse i wouldn't want my dog to live in. Cuba is a signatory of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights for pete's sake. And they trample the very meaning of that document every day with impunity.

The future of the world lies in a different direction: not with repressive governments but with free people. It belongs to the men and women who find inspiration in the essence of the Universal Declaration; who act upon their principles even at great personal risk; who dodge bullets and defy threats to have their voices heard; who work selflessly for justice, tolerance, democracy and peace. In Cuba you can find such people; populating prisons, under house arrest, in detention, intimidated, and face down in the mud with a bullet in the back of their head.

nuff said

_____
rm


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## croatan (Mar 23, 2005)

Well said Rog and, unfortunately, so true. I, for one, fear that that the State under Raul (should he take the helm) might be more hardline and ore repressive than it is under Fidel.


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## dayplanner (Dec 11, 1997)

Roger Miller" said:


> This may be a bit over the top for a response to a joke.


Yep


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## refill (Feb 22, 2005)

Singlguy9, you got me. I opened another window and instantly went to fox news.

Roger Miller, Very nice post


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## NCRadioMan (Feb 28, 2005)

Hell, I'm at a radio station with news all around me and I still took the bait!  :fu  


:ms NCRM


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## Jeff (Jan 2, 2005)

Great April Fool's joke! :r Really got me.


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## dayplanner (Dec 11, 1997)

Noob and sucker checking in :tg 

:r


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## Da Klugs (Jan 8, 2005)

singlguy9 said:


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Ha Ha this was my first thought upon waking this morning. Sick minds think alike.


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## singlguy9 (Dec 9, 2004)

sorry RM........I don't think Castro dying would necessarily end the embargo or cure the ills of Cuba.............just a joke.......ya know......it April 1st.


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## Nely (Nov 11, 2004)

excellent post Roger Miller.


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## One Lonely Smoker (Jan 21, 2005)

I think Reuters announced the Pope was dead today just before lunch...uh, whoops! Not that the HF has that long to live, but a bit premature.
Now, in Cuba, I don't think that the CP will be any more repressive under Raul. It isn't like some good cop bad cop thing right now. Shite is tight. It will just stay tite.


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## falconpunch99 (Feb 15, 2005)

Roger Miller" said:


> Cute, sort of.
> 
> Implicit in your joke is that if Fidel dies the embargo will end. Not a chance. Fidel is not the sole problem, instutionalized control and consolidation of power by the Communist Party (CP) is the problem. I am not sure what makes you think that will go away if Fidel dies, but i believe it is ill informed.
> 
> ...


The Cuban government is going though a transition as we speak; not in a democratic sense but in a structure and style sense. While Castro is a very old school communist who babbles speeches for hours, Raul (who heads the armed forces and the interior ministry) has been placing hand picked people in very important positions, many of them he married into his personal family! Raul will set up a new kind of authoritarian state, a family dictatorship, more modern and efficient. Many other South American countries have done the same things. Raul _might_ be willing to negotiate some kinda deal where trade is concerned, but remember is a hard-liner and he will _not_ negotiate himself outa power. It will definitely be a communist elitism, which differs from Castro.


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## Wetterhorn (Apr 1, 2004)

:r 

Another one (ME!) bites the dust!

Good one!

:r


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## Mr. White (Dec 4, 2004)

singlguy9 said:


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Ring Gauge given... He fooled me too. hehe.


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## DonJefe (Dec 1, 2003)

RM, that was a very informative and intelligent post. I would give you gauge but it won't let me! :c


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## Shaggy17sc (Mar 10, 2005)

singlguy9 said:


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 :c How dare you get my hopes up

:r Got me too, good one


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## Lamar (Dec 12, 1997)

I have to admit that I bit too!


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## singlguy9 (Dec 9, 2004)

I'm glad this brought a smile to some of you...........this was a joke............really.

The thread wasn't meant to start a debate on the political situation in Cuba.................I guess there's some real serious folks here...............IMHO, serious comments about the plight of the Cuban people and my April fools thread don't mix..........they're unrelated and belong in separate threads. The problems in Cuba are well documented and deserve debate in a separatre forum.

If I offended anyone, I'm sorry.............my thought pattern for this thread was simple (and nothing more.....really)...........some of us like Cuban cigars and go through great lengths to get them..........Castro's death will most likely have some impact (at some point) on Cuban cigar sales worldwide including the US..............it was April 1st..................these ingredients alone made for a good April fools joke.



:z


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